Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Ravioli

RAVIOLI WITH BUTTER SAGE SAUCE AND PARMESAN CHEESE

With my most recent post on "The Art of Making Cheese", I had to sneak in this recipe, even if these ravioli were made days after (and with a different ricotta, just as good). The ricotta Medardo gave me lasted 15 minutes eating it out of a bowl with some honey and a scoop in my coffee. Have you ever tried ricotta in your coffee? My mother revealed this treat to my sister and I when we were kids and it was truely frustrating to watch her enjoy it, mouth full after mouth full, and not being old enough to drink coffee. The moment came years later, after I stopped hating coffee (yes, I used to hate coffee), started enjoying coffee (yes, I am now addicted) and enjoying it even more with some ricotta...but this is something we'll discuss another day because today the subject is ravioli. Ravioli with a lemony mint ricotta filling and a butter sage sauce. The mint and lemon are added to the ricotta in a very small dose, enough to give a light scent of freshness to smooth off the richness of the ricotta, enough to give you a sense of these two ingredients without overwhelming the intensity of the cheese. This is why you won't find an exact measure of these two ingredients in the recipe, I believe you should add and adjust, taste and add more if necessary. Leave it your tastebuds to decide and never overdo it. The delicate buttery sage (or mint) sauce and a dust of parmesan cheese goes beautifully with these ravioli. Just one more recommendation: if you can get your hands on "sheep" ricotta cheese, prefer it over any other. It makes a whole difference!